Activision has made much of the fact thatCall of Duty: WW2is designed to take the venerable FPS franchiseback to its roots. However, there’s now confirmation that a particular mechanic introduced in recent years is being removed, which should help make gameplay more closely resemble older installments.
Last week, a fans asked Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey whetherCall of Duty: WW2would feature the unlimited sprint mechanic. Condrey was more up-front with his answer than you might expect, responding with a succinct tweet that simply read, ‘nope.’
RecentCall of Dutygames have put a huge emphasis on giving the player advanced traversal capabilities, and infinite sprint was a big part of that evolution. These changes allowed multiplayer action to be more fast-paced and frenetic, but traditionalists have maintained that always being able to sprint removes a degree of strategy and tactical play from the game.
Of course, it makes complete sense that Sledgehammer Games would choose to remove this mechanic from a game based around World War II. This year’s instalment is a marked departure from the futuristic setting of last year’sInfinite Warfare, and it’s good to see gameplay reflecting that change.
Much likeBattlefield 1before it, Sledgehammer Games is hoping to achieve a degree ofhistorical accuracyasCall of Duty: WW2returns the franchise to its roots in real-world conflict. Having soldiers sprint around without ever getting tired would perhaps detract from these efforts.
It’s clear that Activision wants to do something very different with this year’sCall of Dutygame, and early response from fans has beenoverwhelmingly positive. It seems likely that the franchise will split off into more different strands than we’ve ever seen before — but, of course, this all depends on how wellWW2performs critically and commercially when it launches in a few months time.
Call of Duty: WW2is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on June 19, 2025.
